For the fifth straight year, October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com, presented by Concordia University. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delectable features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2011."

Milwaukee is a diner's delight. We can pick from top-notch restaurants featuring internationally-recognized chefs, enjoy an inexpensive and casual meal with family and friends and even grab a tasty fish fry at the local watering hole.

The options are plentiful.

But for many in Milwaukee and the surrounding area, hitting one of the thousands of restaurants just isn't option. These people can barely afford to put food on their own kitchen tables, let alone enjoy a meal on the town.

Thankfully, these people can turn to the Hunger Task Force of Wisconsin.

Founded in 1974, Hunger Task Force attacks hunger on two fronts. First and foremost, it provides meals to thousands of Milwaukee-area families through direct assistance, food bank and shelter programs. Second is advocacy.

The group came about when concerned parents and community leaders were pressing Milwaukee Public Schools to take advantage of federal funding for free breakfast in the classrooms. After some initial hesitation on the part of MPS, the group was successful and today, 85 schools provide universal free breakfast.

The group continued its advocacy efforts for several years and when WISN-TV and the Marine Corps Reserve began the annual Food for Families, campaign, the group, by then the Hunger Task Force, was called upon to help distribute the collected food.

"There were mostly dietitians and nutritionists and they pieced it apart fairly well by looking at the food guide pyramid – before there actually was a food guide pyramid.," says Hunger Task Force Executive Director Sherrie Tussler. "They determined that everybody should have a breakfast starch, and everybody should have fruit and vegetables in their diet. They started sorting the food according to those categories and distributing it to pantries based upon diet, religion, culture and household size."

Hunger Task Force follows similar guidelines in its efforts today.

Over the last 20 years, Hunger Task Force's efforts have become much more visible. Their collection barrels have become familiar sights at local events like Summerfest, State Fair and Brewers games.

Those donations make up a big chunk of the nearly 10 million pounds of food distributed annually.

Donations are one of several ways Hunger Task Force gets food. The group also gets commodities through government programs and raises fresh produce on its farm in Franklin.

And sometimes, Hunger Task Force, has to rely on donations to purchase food on its own.

"We often run our of purchased or government food and we have this effective guarantee that the charities and people we serve will get the food that they need," Tussler says. "So we have to go out and buy it."

Once collected, the food is sorted and stored, though not for long. The turnaround time is quick and most food that comes into Hunger Task Force's West Side warehouse is out the door within days or weeks.

It's an expansive operation, one that includes 48 staff members working in various capacities, and an army of nearly 7,000 volunteers. They collect and sort food, pack boxes, prepare and deliver shipments. The volunteers also help with distribution efforts.

"They do the hard work," Tussler says.

The food is then sent out in a variety of different ways. Bulk deliveries are made to homeless shelters and meal sites, prepackaged stock boxes are prepared for income-eligible senior citizens and other items are sent to food pantries, where it will be distributed to families and individuals in need.

The distribution effort is a somewhat complicated process, which Tussler calls a form of rocket science.

"It's certainly not a free for all," Tussler says. "We the people running those charities and food pantries to take the time to talk to people; interview them, find out how big their family is so we don't give everyone the same sized bag of food. We need to find out if there's anything about their beliefs or lifestyle that prevents them from eating certain foods. We don't want to waste food. We don't want to give people food they can't eat."

With so many entities needing food services, Hunger Task Force serves, in a roundabout way, as a central distribution agency, which eliminates competition among charities and shelters for donations.

"We're sort of the great leveler," Tussler says. "When we're building orders, we take into account how many people a particular shelter or pantry served in the last month and try to distribute accordingly."

But while feeding the Milwaukee is Hunger Task Force's identity, the group also works hard to help eradicate hunger. As part of the advocacy portion of its mission statement, Hunger Task Force is active in the community, working with its clients to get to the root of the problem and lobbying government officials to get the appropriate help to the appropriate places.

"A lot of people get bound up in a system that doesn't respond as quickly as they need it to," Tussler says. "The first day you apply for food stamps is sometimes about three days after you run out of food. We show people how to understand and and teach people how to properly work their way through the system.

"If people can maintain those benefits, they're less likely to rely on a food pantry. I think charity is important and necessary, but it's not the way to end hunger. If we can give people a hand, and help them get to the point that they can purchase their own food from the grocery story, we've brought a lot of dignity to their life."

The goal is to help and Tussler urges people to seek assistance if they think they needed it. Hunger Task Force has an emergency hotline, 2-1-1, and has staffers at various welfare and domestic services shelters.

"We're here," Tussler says. "If you're missing a meal, if you're feeding your family and partner instead of yourself, you need to call us. That's why we're here."